Prayer, Support Offered At Hartford Vigils

A woman prays during a service at the Asylum Hill Congregational Church in Hartford for those students and teachers who died and those who will have to live without them.

A woman prays during a service at the Asylum Hill Congregational Church in Hartford for those students and teachers who died and those who will have to live without them. (MICHAEL McANDREWS, Hartford Courant)

Scores of people came to the capital city Friday night to pray and show their support for the grieving families of 20 young children and six adults slain at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown.

At Asylum Hill Congregational Church, about 50 people attended a prayer service scheduled just that afternoon.

Senior Minister Matthew Landry said the telephones had been ringing all day in the church office and at his home, with callers expressing a range of emotions: shock, grief, sadness and anger.

"Our first response as Christians is to come together to pray and lift us to those who are suffering so deeply," Landry said before the service. "It's beyond comprehension. I have two kids in elementary school. It totally sets my heart reeling thinking what the parents are going through. We're here for them."

The church's Drew Hall was decorated with the Christmas tree and poinsettias, a stark counterpoint to the reason for the service, which was marked by Scripture readings and hymns. A candle had been lit for each of the 26 victims killed at the school.

Andrea Livingston and Beverly Duncan, both retired West Hartford teachers, traveled to the service from Avon.

"It's been a hard day," Livingston said, stiffening to stifle tears. "We always told them school was a safe place. My heart's broken."

Duncan, a former kindergarten teacher, said she always tried to calm parent's first-day jitters by telling them "to go home and have a cup of coffee. It's a safe place here."

Stephen Gray of Hartford said he had been sitting at home alone, watching the televised reports on the shootings.

"It just got worse and worse," Gray said. "I just had to be with other people and hopefully feel a little better."

Ted and Jane Carroll of Hartford said there was little they could do for those who were suffering in Newtown.

"It's just so sad, so very sad," Jane Carroll said. "We're just sending prayer. There's nothing else we can do — just prayer."

A short time later a crowd of more than 100 gathered to light candles, sing songs and say prayers outside the carousel in Bushnell Park.